Summary
- Riot Games laid off 27 League of Legends PC developers and 5 publishing sector workers.
- Layoffs are part of the company's long-term strategy to maintain the quality of its games in the future.
- Laid-off staff members will receive a severance package, bonus, and job placement assistance.
In yet another devastating blow to video game employees and the game industry, Riot Games has announced that it will lay off 27 staff members from its League of Legends PC development team and a further five workers from its publishing sector, making it the second round of layoffs by the company this year. Founded in 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill, Riot Games is the force behind the popular titles League of Legends and Valorant.
In January 2024, Riot Games announced that it was conducting staff layoffs, resulting in a cutback of 11% of its workers. The unfortunate reduction resulted in 530 employees being dismissed, as well as the closure of its publishing label, Riot Forge, which was behind games such as Ruined King and Song of Nunu. CEO of Riot Games, A. Dylan Jadeja, who has been a member of the senior executive team for more than a decade, said at the time that Riot had become unsustainable due to a number of "big bets" that did not pay off.
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In a post on social media, Riot Games' co-founder Marc Merrill explained that the layoffs are part of a long-term goal in a bid to make sure that the company has the "right expertise so that League continues to be great for another 15 years and beyond." Merrill said that these cuts didn't stem from the company wanting to save money and that Riot Games will persevere with its popular lineup of games, giving worried fans some much-needed reassurance. Initially, it was not known how many Riot Games employees would be affected by the layoffs, but according to an update from Game Developer, 27 were from the League of Legends PC development team, while a further five were from Riot's publishing division.
Riot Games Announces Layoffs of 32 Employees
Merrill included in the post that laid-off staff members would be entitled to a six-month severance package, a yearlong bonus, as well as health coverage and job placement assistance. This latest round of layoffs by Riot Games marks yet another big reduction by a game studio in 2024. At the start of the year, Unity downsized its staff by approximately 25% following a tough year due to controversies and a CEO change.
Recently, mobile video game developer NaturalMotion Games faced layoffs, including an entire studio in the UK getting closed down. An estimated 10,000 video game workers lost their jobs in 2023 alone, with a further 13,000 in 2024. As companies like Riot Games continue to announce employee cutbacks, it isn't clear how much longer this crippling and depressing trend will last.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 84 /100 Critics Rec: 90%
- Released
- October 27, 2009
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco
- Developer(s)
- Riot Games
- Publisher(s)
- Riot Games
- Engine
- Proprietary
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- League of Legends
WHERE TO PLAY
League of Legends is one of the best MOBAs in the world, allowing players to duke it out against each other or bots in a variety of game modes. There are tons of champions to choose from in LoL, with favorites like Yasuo, Graves, Nasus, Poppy, and more, with new champions like Vex and Viego recently joining the crew.
- Platform(s)
- PC, macOS
- Genre(s)
- MOBA
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
